Reject the Proposed Lime Ridge Open Space FLOW Trails

While I do not live in Concord or Walnut Creek, I have boarded my horses on North Gate Road since 1992 and often ride on Lime Ridge. I am concerned that horseback riders, hikers, and family groups from nearby neighborhoods would be displaced by the construction of a flow trail in this park. In addition, a large portion of Lime Ridge is designated a wildlife habitat. It's hard to see how a flow trail fits in with a wildlife habitat. Please consider all options carefully and seek input from all affected stakeholders before making a decision. Thank you.

Open Spaces should be preserved!

Please protect our open space!! Please do not add these flow trails. I have great concern for our local wildlife and plants and the impact bikes and people are already having on their habitats. Adding more trails will be detrimental to wildlife and plants in our open space. If more trails are needed in the Bay Area, please explore all the available options! Thank you!

The park is for everyone. It is NOT SAFE, for anyone, with fast moving bikers.

Please protect and preserve this open space. There are many wild species that call Lime Ridge home. There are plenty of bike trails including beautiful Mount Diablo that bikers has access to. California is experiencing extreme drought conditions and the increase risk of fire is a real concern for residents. Please respect the residents and protect our open space. Thank you

Keep it wild and free from heavy traffic. The wild life need this space

The mountain bikers are already too excessive in the Limeridge Open Space. I’ve nearly gotten hit by bikers multiple times, that were going way too fast around blind curves. The bikers should be banned from the trails that hikers use! Limeridge is my neighborhood so I hike there frequently.

I am in agreement to stop this development for flow trails in limeridge open space.

Open Space should preserve the natural environment and not disturb wildlings.

I am not opposed to multi-use trails including bikes on Lime Ridge. In fact, my husband is a mountain biker and has riden these trails for years. However I am opposed to building "a terrain-induced roller coaster experience" that would exclude other uses on space that was designated as open and protected. The city has not been open and forthright about this project, and it is disingenuous to suggest that the proposed project meets that PROS goal to "Allow on Open Space lands, only facilities, structures, and activities compatible with conservation, preservation and education." Nor do I see this as compliant with "safe, sustainable, and environmentally friendly use," given one of the justifications is the current environmental damage and erosion existing bike trails have caused. I also haven't heard or seen anything about an environmental impact report.

Our Open Spaces are limited..we do not need an amusement park within any of them..

We need to preserve our beautiful mountain for future generations... not use it as a thrill ride for mountain bikers. Hikers already use it to enjoy nature they don’t need designer trails which are proposed mainly for mountain bikers!

Visit the website at protectlimeridge.org for more information

According to the current plan, this unidirectional, bicycle-only Flow Trail will be directly connected and cut off the current single-use only Timberleaf Trail, which is a local single-use trail for homeowners that exists at the end of our small, private cul-de-sac. There is extremely limited parking on our small cul-de-sac and even though the “official” staging and parking areas for the first phase of this bike park will be at Arbolado Park and Boundary Oaks, some bikers will skip the arduous trek uphill by parking on our street and taking a shortcut to the start of the more thrilling part of the pump-track. I am an original homeowner on Timberleaf Court and the agreement with the City of Walnut Creek in 1996 prior to the transfer by the developer of the Rancho Paraiso tract of Lime Ridge to the City was that the narrow Timberleaf Trail would be only for pedestrians, dogs on leash and equestrians. No bikes were to be allowed and the trailhead was to remain unmarked at the end of our cul-de-sac for privacy and safety reasons. Dan Cather and the WC PROS Commission agreed that broader use was inappropriate and this was stated in the recommendations recorded by the City at that time. Any change-of-use of Timberleaf Trail to accommodate mountain bikers is in flagrant violation of that agreement. There is no good reason for locating this bicycle pump track on the very periphery of the Lime Ridge Open Space so close and with direct access to quiet and private cul- de-sacs in Rancho Paraiso and Montecito/Crystal Ranch. As the only legal Flow Trail of its kind in the East Bay - it will be a magnet for BMX and other mountain bikers from all over the Bay Area, causing traffic, safety, fire hazard and privacy issues to our quiet neighborhood and damage to the pristine hillside and wildlife directly behind our homes.

I haven't finally made up my mind about this project yet, but I'm definitely opposed to the sneaky process the City of Walnut Creek took to come to this decision. Silently working together with an interest group without sharing it with the affected neighborhoods and then pushing it through. Also, once the bike park is there, what happens when the next interest groups wants a piece of Mount Diablo for their amusement? Was the local chapter of the Sierra Club or any other environmental organization asked for their input?

I am very concerned about the environmental impact, the increased traffic, and financial risk to the city. What financial upside does this have? I only see the costs involved. Where has a flow trial been previously developed and what has been the impact to the surrounding communities? Isn't this protected open space?

I regularly hike in the limeridge area and people on mountain bike continue to ignore rules of which trails they’re not supposed to go on. They even go off trail and destroy wild life. If this extends it will bring more people so there will more destruction of wildlife as well as waste left behind as there is only a trash bin in the parking lot.

Timberleaf ct shouldn't have to be a parking lot for bikers accessing the trail. Just look at the lots next to Crystal Ranch. They are full of cars and full trash cans.

I am a 28 year resident of Walnut Creek and a 20 year resident of Rancho Paraíso. I am vehemently opposed to the bike flow trail for a number of reasons including but not limited to proximity to our neighborhood, access from Rancho Paraiso, traffic flow, parking, increased crime, and protection of the Open Space. Moreover, I am offended that the commissioners of PROS feel that they have “completed” an impact study without taking into account the impact on the residents of Rancho Paraiso - a neighborhood comprised of $2M+ homes.

This was a sleazy attempt by the city to jam this through without letting the local neighborhood that would be impacted by this know about it. There is a lot of open space that is nowhere close to houses where a track could be built. There is absolutely no legitimate reason to choose to build it right behind Rancho Paraiso instead. There are also many existing areas that mountain bikers can ride. To choose to build a new trail and negatively impact local wildlife, create a potential fire hazard and to destroy the privacy of homeowners when there are plenty of alternative approaches is unconscionable.